


Won’t You Ever Know That I’m in Love With You?

by ceealaina



Series: Tony Stark Bingo 2019 [5]
Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, MIT Era, Schmoop, Tony/OFC (brief)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-10
Updated: 2019-05-10
Packaged: 2020-02-29 07:53:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,718
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18774424
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ceealaina/pseuds/ceealaina
Summary: Square: TSB A4-First Kiss, IronHusbands O4-Hurt/ComfortRating: MWarnings: Brief mentions of sexy timesPairing: Tony/Rhodey,  Tony/OFC (background)Summary: “The thing was, he could sleep around as much as he wanted, and it was never going to make the fact that he was completely and totally in love with Rhodey go away.”Something short and sweet for my h/c and first kiss squares.





	Won’t You Ever Know That I’m in Love With You?

Tony groaned as he thrust into Mina, trying to keep his brain focused on the here and now, the feeling of her body against his, the arch of her spine beneath him. It wasn’t really working. Usually sex was a foolproof method for slowing down the thoughts in his head, for turning off and quieting the noise in his brain, but lately it hadn’t been cutting it.

Later, after Mina had come with a ‘yes, yes, yes, yes, yes’ that made him roll his eyes behind her, he lay in her bed, smoking a cigarette and staring at the ceiling and trying not to think about his impending graduation (about Rhodey leaving for basic training).

“Tony!”

He almost jumped at Mina’s sharp hiss of his name and winced when he realized she’d been trying to get his attention for a few minutes. “Sorry,” he said, giving her an apologetic smile and batting his eyes in a way that usually never failed to make the girls melt.

Mina remained unimpressed.

“Look,” she told him. “I don’t know who you’re looking for, but it obviously isn’t me. I don’t think this is working out.”

Tony blinked at her. “You just called me to come over three hours ago. You decided to wait until _after_ we fucked to break up with me?”

She shrugged. “You’re really good in bed,” she offered, not sounding particularly apologetic. Tony scrubbed a hand through his hair, taking another deep drag off the cigarette before she plucked it from his mouth. “I think you should go now.”

“But it’s the middle of the night!”

Mina just stared impassively back at him and Tony rolled his eyes and huffed out a sigh. “Fine, whatever,” he grumbled, rolling off the bed to search for his clothes.

It was cold out, a light drizzle in the air, and he was a good thirty minute walk from the apartment that he and Rhodes had rented after their first year in the dorms. He knew he should call a cab, but it was a Saturday night (Sunday morning, now) and they were a good way from the main bar drag, and he didn’t really love the idea of waiting outside Mina’s house like a rejected puppy. Besides, being cold and wet and miserable seemed appropriate for how his night had been going.

It wasn’t like he had really expected things to work out with Mina. Quite the opposite. But still - five breakups in six months, none of which he’d instigated, was a little sad. And a post booty-call middle-of-the-night breakup was the most embarrassing yet.

The thing was, he could sleep around as much as he wanted, and it was never going to make the fact that he was completely and totally in love with Rhodey go away - and it wasn’t going to change the fact that Rhodey was leaving in just a few short weeks. Tony knew how these things went. They’d stay in touch for a bit, but they’d gradually drift apart, and probably he’d never see the other man again.

So, no. Sleeping around wouldn’t change any of this, but it did beat the hell out of lying in bed night after night, wondering what would happen if he just gathered the courage to get up, go next door, and tell Rhodey how he really felt.

By the time he made it home, Tony was shivering and ready to crawl into bed and forget the whole night. He let himself into the apartment and stopped when he spotted Rhodey on couch, laughing over some stupid late-night comedy thing, apparently still wired from the ROTC party he’d been at earlier.

“Hey,” Tony said, peeling off his soaked jacket and leaving it in a pile at the door, smiling despite himself at Rhodey’s bright laughter.

“Hey!” Rhodey answered. “Wasn’t expecting you back tonight.” He tilted his head back over the couch to look at him. “Jesus, what happened to you?”

“It’s raining out,” Tony offered, teeth chattering as he moved over to the couch.

“Yeah, no shit,” Rhodey replied, but it was fond and he was already wrapping Tony up in one of the blankets on the couch. “Why were you out walking in it? Thought you’d be crashing at Mina’s all night.”

“I was,” he admitted, calling after Rhodey as he wandered off down the hall. “But then she dumped me. And kicked me out of her house. So it was that or stand outside looking pathetic for twenty minutes while I waited for a cab. Figured I’d rather walk.”

Rhodey gave him a sympathetic look as he returned with three of their softest towels, dumping two in Tony’s lap before grabbing the third and attacking Tony’s head with it. Tony rolled his eyes, even while a secret part of himself delighted over Rhodey looking out for him.

“I’m sorry, man,” Rhodey told him. “Mina seemed... great.”

Despite the sting that he was still feeling over it, Tony snorted. “You hated her.”

“I didn’t hate her!” Rhodey protested. “I just... hated her for you.”

Tony’s smile went tight. “Yeah, well,” he mumbled. “Joke’s on me, because clearly you were right.”

“Hey,” Rhodey’s hand squeezed at his shoulder and Tony tried to ignore how good that felt. “I’m just... I’m kinda worried about you, Tony. You’ve been tearing through girls like nobody’s business lately, and that’s _fine_ , it is, it just... Kinda seems like you’re using it to distract from something else.”

Tony shrugged, but it wasn’t like he could argue, exactly, so he kept quiet, smiling faintly when Rhodey passed him a beer. He could feel Rhodey’s eyes on him and focused on the tv, pretending not to notice. Rhodey just sighed, scrubbing a hand over his head.

“I’m just saying, you don’t gotta sleep with everyone who says something nice to you. Maybe slow down before you jump into bed with the next one. You’re a catch, Tones. You don’t have to settle. You could have anyone you wanted.”

Tony blinked over at him. “Even you?” he whispered, eyes widening when he realized he’d spoken out loud. “Fuck,” he muttered, glaring at his beer bottle.

“I.” Rhodey made a choked noise. “What did you say?”

“Nothing,” Tony said quickly, shoving the bottle down on their makeshift coffee table. “Nothing, I just... Had too much to drink tonight. Not making any sense.” He got heavily to his feet, brushing past Rhodey and giving him a smile that he knew Rhodey would see through. “I’m going to bed. Don’t worry about it.”

“Tony.” Rhodey still looked flabbergasted, but he collected himself enough to grab Tony’s wrist on his way by. “What. Did you. Say?”

Tony sighed, squeezing his eyes tightly shut for a brief moment before he turned to face him.

“I...” He shrugged his shoulders helplessly. “I’ve kinda got a thing for you, Rhodes. Have for a long time. You wanna know why I keep going through so many people? Cause none of them are you.” Tony laughed, sounding high pitched and awkward to his own ears, and scratched at the back of his neck with his free hand. “Sorry,” he added, not able to meet Rhodey’s eyes. “Hell of a thing to drop on you, I know. At least graduation’s soon, right? Won’t have to see me after that.” He couldn’t make himself stop talking. “I’ll, uh. I’ll stay out of your way, till then. If you want. I won’t make it weird. Promise.”

Rhodey still hadn’t said anything, and Tony could feel his eyes burning. He squeezed them shut again, pulling half heartedly against the hand Rhodey still had wrapped around his wrist. “Can you let me go now, please?” he asked, voice dropping to a soft whisper.

Rhodey let go of his wrist like it burned him, and Tony winced as he turned away, still without looking at him. He was drunk, which was definitely the only reason that he found himself chewing his lip and fighting back tears until he was safely behind his bedroom door.

“Tony!”

Tony stilled halfway down the hall, drawing in a slow breath before turning back to face him. “Yep.”

Rhodey was off the couch and moving down the hall toward him. “Don’t... Don’t do that, man. Don’t shut me out like that. You caught me off guard, that’s all.”

Tony tried to smile, running a hand through his hair. “Well, that’s fair. Nobody expects anything like this. Can we just... write this off as a drunk fever dream. Pretend it never happened?”

“Tony!” Rhodey was grinning at him now, that fond look that he got when Tony’s ideas got really out there, and Tony was too embarrassed and too tired to figure out why. Rhodey seemed to know what he was thinking and he shook his head, laughing softly. “Yeah, man,” he said, finally reaching him and settling his hands on Tony’s arms. “Even me.”

“What?” Tony asked, frowning. Then his earlier words came back to him. “Wait... _what_?”

Rhodey’s grin was a little lopsided now, a faint flush on his cheeks. “Yep,” he said, a little nervously. His hand slid carefully up Tony’s upper arm, and Tony resisted the urge to shiver, hyper focused on the sensation. “Just... never thought you’d feel like that too.” His hand slid higher, curling around the back of Tony’s neck, and Tony swallowed hard at the feeling, their eyes locked.

“Oh god,” Tony blurted out. “Please just kiss me?”

Rhodey huffed out a laugh at that, and Tony giggled too and then they were kissing softly, Rhodey’s lips dry and cool against his own, his fingers tightening against the back of Tony’s neck. It lasted a few minutes before they pulled away again, blinking at each other.

“That was weird, right?” Rhodey asked.

“Super weird,” Tony admitted, eyes dancing and a pleased smile on his face.

“Come on, man. I thought you were supposed to be good at this.”

“What?” Tony protested, giggling again. “I _am_ good at this! I’m amazing at this. If anyone needs to step it up here, it’s you. Get on my level, Rhodes!”

“Get on your level?” Rhodey repeated. “I’ll show you my level.” Then he had fisted his hands in the front of Tony’s shirt, dragging him for another kiss and it wasn’t weird at all.


End file.
